SMIC, what cleaner most ppl use?

[TurboBird]

I am getting ready to clean my SMIC and for my cleaner I have decided to try something a little less conventional, an acidic toilet bowl cleaner. Now don't laugh b/c this is some hard sh*t, I was messing around with it and it was cleaning off pennies as soon as they hit the cleaner. I alos metled a platic toilet bowl cleaner and use it to take out rust spots off the sinks and floors (it is kinda all purpoes, but don't tell my boss )
I was wondering what most ppl use, other than like gas? And how do you think this will work, b/c i don't really want to mess up my IC? l8er

 

[Eclipse96Ryder]

brake fluid worked really good for me.

 

[Jebus[tuning]]

Gas + Air dry.

Nothing else works better.

 

[98RedGs]

Brake Fluid
Gas + Air
High Pressure Washer + Gas

Pick your choice.

 

[TurboBird]

so it is sounding like gas is the way to go then. hmmm I may try gas then, but I think I will try this cleaner as well.
Air huh, like air just off of like a compressor?

 

[psychlow]

Personally, I'm a fan of acetone.

Not as volatile as gas in case of an accident, and cleans faster than gasoline or alcohol. It is a little expensive, though.

Personally, I wouldn't use any type of acid on aluminum. Most acids will react with most metals - if you left a pennny in the solution for any period of time, I bet you could watch it dissolve.

Also, depending on what type of acid is in the cleaner, you'll probably have poisonous/explosive gasses being produced as the acid reacts with the aluminum. Whereas acetone will get you a little buzzed, hydrogen chloride gas will try to strip the lining from your lungs and burn your eyes.

 

[95gster]

just use gas it works well, you'll be suprise at how much oil is in your intercooler, and yes gas is fine unless you smoking a cigarette while cleaning your intercooler at the same time.....

 

[paranoidTSi]

Personally, I'm a fan of acetone.

Not as volatile as gas in case of an accident, and cleans faster than gasoline or alcohol. It is a little expensive, though.

Personally, I wouldn't use any type of acid on aluminum. Most acids will react with most metals - if you left a pennny in the solution for any period of time, I bet you could watch it dissolve.

Also, depending on what type of acid is in the cleaner, you'll probably have poisonous/explosive gasses being produced as the acid reacts with the aluminum. Whereas acetone will get you a little buzzed, hydrogen chloride gas will try to strip the lining from your lungs and burn your eyes.

Don't fool yourself, Acetone is just as deadly as gasoline. That buzz you get from Acetone is it killing off your brain cells. In terms of cleaning I bet they both do a equal effective job on cleaning your intercooler..Gas might take a little longer but it is cheaper.

 

[psychlow]

Don't fool yourself, Acetone is just as deadly as gasoline. That buzz you get from Acetone is it killing off your brain cells. In terms of cleaning I bet they both do a equal effective job on cleaning your intercooler..Gas might take a little longer but it is cheaper.

Assuming you're doing this outside, you likely won't have any problems with "getting buzzed", but I was suggesting this as a semi-worst-case scenario. You likely wouldn't have many problems with hydrogen chloride gas outside either, but caustic substances are higher priority dangers in my mind than killing a few brain cells and having a slight headache.

I don't get the buzz, because I use an respirator mask with organic solvent filters just about anytime I use gasoline, alcohol, mineral spirits, acetone, hexane, or any other organic solvent.

Acetone is pretty deadly if ignited in a confined space, but the same is even more true for gasoline, having more energy by volume. Acetone cleans faster, and is a little less susceptible to involuntary ignition than gasoline, having a higher auto-ignition temperature.

Just a personal preference.

Oh, also on the toilet bowl cleaner thing:

Question - When you mix "The Works" toilet bowl cleaner with
aluminum foil it produces a gas and I was wondering what gas this is.
Could you identify it. Thanks.
------------------------------------------------
Toilet bowl cleaners are typically fairly concentrated solutions of
hydrochloric acid [HCl] and some detergents. Assuming that, the reaction is:
6HCl + 2Al = 2AlCl3 + 3H2(gas).

Hydrogen is explosively flammable, so one should not play around with this.

 

[LifIsPeachy02]

i used brake clean...it worked GREAT for me! shoulda seen what i flushed outta that thing

 

[DarthBulk]

Are you sure that your toilet bowl cleaner is acid, and not basic? Some bathroom cleaners are strong bases, like lye, and those are NOT good for aluminum. I used Alumiprep 33 (I think that is what it was called), from http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/alumprepaint.php

That works pretty good on aluminum.

 

[paranoidTSi]

I use Gasoline on the internals, and I use brake cleaner on the outside of the intercooler it seems to work like a charm.

 

[Defiant]

Er... a porcelain cleaner isn't really meant for attacking grease and oil. Unless your digestive tract is quite unusual indeed.

If you must use something from under mom's sink, Dawn detergent is about the strongest grease cutter.

You're still better-off with a petroleum-based cleaner. Although I'd never recommend it due to the astounding amount of danger involved, gasoline is the fastest solvent. Though at these prices, acetone might be on the verge of being cheaper. Lacquer thinner will also do an _amazing_ job.